Something to keep in mind is that over 90% of armed civilian self-defense encounters will/do take place inside 3 yards. Practicing accessing, drawing, deploying and dry-firing the weapon in this context is extremely important. More so than even live range practice IMO. The enclosed hammer has numerous advantages and is very formidable at these ranges.

In terms of live fire, the airweights aren't that bad unless perhaps you're using really hot ammo. The recoil is obviously more substantial than with an all steel model, but not prohibitive to putting an adequate numbers of rounds through it by any means. Massad Ayoob puts a lot of +P rounds through his even lighter 340 M&P and he is a slightly built, older man.